TEST DRIVE ∞ May 2025

[thediadem]

Test Drive ∞ May 2025

The First Collision

©

Jump ⇅ :: Arrival — Panorama — Fringes — Invite Request

The Diadem is an invite-only panfandom game set in a retro-futuristic world where uprooted souls find themselves deep within an eerie wasteland of roads and highways frequently assailed by cosmic storms. Three united strongholds keep the population. Its capital is Panorama, a large metropolis at the planet's center.

Soon, you realize you aren't alone. Calling themselves fluxdrifts, the "locals" have similar stories to you, either for themselves or their ancestry. You speak to an old woman who claims she hailed from another star. You meet a young man who says his great-great-grandfather knew a strange language everybody spoke "back home." As you explore, you stumble across a coin you recognize or your sister's locket. How did it get here? What does this mean? That's for you to discover.

But first, you need to find a ride.

No invites needed to play on the TDM. Everyone's welcome! Use the Invite Request thread below to request an invite from another player.

∞ Summary ∞

IC-wise, arrivals are scattered throughout the month. Events described on the TDM are also ongoing throughout the month. If you'd rather jump right into the action, you're free to begin in media res with your character having already been on the planet for several days.

Post-impact, characters will wake up in a med tent by the Scrapyard. From there, they must accept a vehicle on loan and make the 2-hour drive to the nearest city, Panorama. If they refuse the car because they don't want the loan, they'll be in debt for medical bills instead...so just take the car. It'll come in handy.

Some things to keep in mind when bringing in your character:

• Pick an injury. At minimum, they got knocked out; at most, whatever they can recover from. Medicine is decently advanced so they'll heal faster if not painlessly.
• Decide items kept. Reasonable items on their person only: photos, keys, clothes, costumes. No pets or animal companions. Wildly out-of-place tech and personal cell phones will be damaged beyond repair.
• Select a weapon. Do this only if eligible. Guidelines about weapons and powers are on the FAQ.
• Choose a vehicle. Decide whether your character gets 2-3 options or if they're stuck with something they hate. Players can pick directly from our collection or source their own images. Anything under a similar aesthetic will work. If your character needs accommodations for driving, they can have them. Ask us for details.
• Get a phone. Characters have to obtain a phone (and a SIM card) themselves. If they've got one from home, it's damaged beyond repair. Phones are cheap. It'll only take a couple of weeks to afford one. You need to know the number before you text or call anyone. Read about phones and the Forum before you hop on it.

TDM threads can be canon if characters are accepted. Top-levels made to the TDM should be open to all.

TDM Questions? Here — Game Questions? FAQ

Setting — Taken — Reserves — Applications ::: ⇅ Top

Fluxdrift

Arrival & Introduction

Date: Throughout May

You've tumbled over a cliff. You were fighting for your life. You're on the cusp of death. You slipped in the shower. Whatever the catalyst, you struggle to cling to consciousness. As darkness overtakes you, a swirling vortex warps light and shadow in a way that defies all physics. A dark wail etches into your very bones. You couldn't describe it if you tried. You can barely comprehend what it is.

Then you open your eyes.

Through the figure's mask ©, you swear the face is grinning down at you. The tent you're in smells of antiseptic, and scratchy blankets line your cot. Injuries you've sustained have been bandaged. In the corner, you spot a MedBot that's fixed you up. Depending on the extent of your injuries, the doctor on duty might give you some painkillers before you go. Thankfully, your belongings are by the exit. Sorry if anything's damaged. Your landing was pretty rough.

You follow the figure outside. They are Yom Crook, here to lend a hand to fellow fluxdrifts like yourself. Their car's parked beside them. Actually, there are lots of cars around, but Yom Crook's stands out with its painted shark mouth. They explain they found you, unconscious, in a diffusion zone and brought you here. The nearest city is a 2-hour drive northeast. Forget about walking. You'll never make it. Also, you owe the doctor a lot of money for patching you up. But you're in luck: they've got some wheels for you and if you accept the vehicle on loan, Yom Crook will cover your medical bills. That's a good deal, right? It's not the shiniest car or motorcycle, but it'll do. If fortune favors, you'll get to choose between two or three options. Plus, if you need accommodations to drive—like adjustments to your seat height or modified controls—you'll receive all that for free.

Take the vehicle. (And the loan.) Yom Crook assures you that you'll have six months before collectors come around. Any time you're ready to pay a part of it down, return here to the Scrapyard. You'll get a receipt and everything. Paying off the loan in six months isn't impossible, but it will take a lot of work. Just don't get too lax. There's a good chance you'll be juggling multiple loans as you try to get by.

You either know how to drive, or you'll have a bare-bones manual to get you started. Road rules are more a suggestion than enforced, so just hit the pedal and go. The car has some basic features. The built-in compass will help you navigate.

OPTIONAL PROMPTS: a flat tire; a body on the road (is it a trap?); a fender bender

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Panorama

Explore & Settle In

Conditions: Warm spring temperatures, light showers

After 2 hours on the road, you find civilization. The largest of the strongholds, Panorama is where the economy thrives. Massive power plants glowing red make it visible from a distance. The city is divided into three districts. For now, you can access the Pavilion and the Blocks. Don't worry about the Sanctum; they're not letting you in.

You only need to know two things about Panorama: 1) it's big, the size of a modern metropolis, and you'll need your car to get around; 2) anything goes as long as you don't pick a fight with the wrong person. Street smarts will get you far. Despite its geographical size, the population isn't huge. With roughly a million people in a city designed for over twice that number, Panorama is far from deserted, but nor is it overcrowded. It's a good thing. Resources are limited as it is.

The Pavilion: Free Samples

©

Like any large city, Panorama features a couple of supermarkets. The stock's not as consistent as a proper supermarket. On occasion, shelves can remain cleaned out for a week or two. Regardless, the long tradition of free samples remains. If you're not already shopping, you'll notice the crowded parking lot and clusters of lines inside.

Try samples, push through the crowds as you shop, or give yourself a five-finger discount. If you're cautious, you can pocket a few small items without consequences. The Pavillion doesn't have the infrastructure for surveillance; unless someone sees you, you won't be caught. Steal from the store or pilfer someone's wallet. Maybe you even make a new friend if you bump into another fluxdrift. Or, start a fight with somebody who cut you off in the cheese line. Don't make too much of a ruckus, or you'll be thrown out.

As you look around, you'll see posters advertising temporary positions for the cash register or graveyard shifts in the warehouse. Seems they might've lost several employees recently (how'd that happen?), which is good for you! It's just a 6-week position, but it'll get you on your feet. The city has temporary positions like this all over. Permanent ones are harder to come by when you're new.

Samples include: steamed cabbage dumplings, synthetic cherry juice, cheddar cheese, and chocolate-covered alien eggs (it's crunchy and weirdly tasty). They're served in the usual throwaway paper cups with little toothpicks.

The Blocks: Power Outage

©

Power's finicky in Panorama, especially in the Blocks. Saint Margery's Hospital, located in the same area, has priority for power so the first to go are the motels. Maybe you've been in your room for a couple of weeks, maybe you just got here—and by the way, every motel desk is happy to put the fee on your tab if you don't have the money upfront—but all the motels on the east side are in a blackout, leaving only the west side motels up and running.

What do you do? You have three choices:

• Risk leaving your room and head to the other side where there's power. Knock on some doors and negotiate with another to share the room. They might shut the door in your face, ask for a favor in return, or be nice enough to help you with no strings attached. There's no guarantee your unattended room will be untouched, though, and you'll be on the hook for any damages an intruder causes.
• Sit in the dark and deal. It's not the worst idea, but the TV's down, the vending machines are powered down, and with the entire place plunged into darkness, you risk getting robbed. If you struggle with defending yourself, you might want to find some trustworthy company. You can also sneak out of there and let them take your leftover pizza. It's not like you've got a ton of valuables, right? Plus, clobbering someone in the face with a frying pan sounds great until you realize you've gotta do something with the body. And what if this person's got a friend waiting?
• Get in your car and drive (or grab a friend for a road trip). If you scroll the Forum, you might notice reports on diffusion zones southward. Besides, these motels are hardly your forever home. The city can only provide so much. Why not go for a ride and see what you can find out there?

OPTIONAL PROMPTS: clean up on aisle 3 (what is that goo?); a knock at your door but no one's there; you hear screaming or a commotion down the hall

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©

The Fringes

Quad 3: Lockdown

Conditions: Stormy, with flooding roads

Felix Bjurstrom
> Date: 125-05-17
> Time: 02:15:57

> Emergency road lights have been reported in Quadrant 3! Please, can someone go see what's there? When last we chasers investigated emergency lights, a whole truck filled with sour candy had tipped over. Our stores were stocked for weeks! Oh, be careful - reception looks bad in that zone.

Whether you end up here on your own or you were following a tip on the Forum, the outcome is the same: you come to a stop in front of a 2-story office building that's flooded several inches deep. Emergency lights from a roadblock flicker through the stormy night. Stepping out of your car, you're soaked within seconds. When you check your phone, you don't have any bars. No calls in or out.

Through the open windows, a computer awakens and displays a cheerful smile. The lights inside switch on.

Pick your scenario role below. Your thread partner doesn't need to take the opposite role! They can join you in the same scenario (i.e. trapped together). Players are also free to create a generic NPC for the other side to facilitate the thread.

After characters escape, they'll find one bottle of antibiotics in their pocket or car, whether they remember taking it or not.

A: Sealed In
As you peer through the windows, you see crates of medicine floating around. Antibiotics in the diadem are valuable. Hospitals and doctors are always buying. You can keep it for yourself or make a quick buck. Or maybe you're compelled to help somebody back in the city who's in need. Whatever the reason, you decide to take the risk and step inside.

Water splashes around your ankles. The lock buzzes behind you. If you try to break the windows, you discover they're unnaturally resistant to shattering. With the whole place locked tight, the water begins to churn. Then the computer lights up again.

Warning, it flashes in large, bold text. Quarantine in progress. Release code required for exit.

• To find the code, you'll have to search. Duck under the water, go through sopping envelopes and sticky notes or pick the locks on the filing cabinets and desk drawers. You can also try hacking the computers. Use your computer knowledge or fall back on the age-old trick of seeing who wrote down their password.
• The files, notepads, and emails start innocuous, but as you look through them, disturbing phrases jump out at you—a dark thought you've had or a cruel taunt from someone in your past. The longer you're fixed on the terrible words, the higher the water begins to rise. Only another can break you out of your trance.
• With the rising water comes fear. And the more you're afraid, the more the water also rises. You begin to see faces in the water, bobbing like balloon heads. Do you recognize them? If you move to take a closer look, they will sink back beneath the surface as if never there.
• If you manage to swallow your panic, you can eventually find a triple-laminated binder with the release code and instructions. Bad news: you need someone on the outside to punch in the 6 strange symbols in order. The instructions explain that the code panel is located at the back of the building.

Let's hope a friendly face comes along.

B: Set Free
As you peer through the windows, you see not just the crates of medicine but someone trapped inside. They look like they might be in trouble, and from your vantage point, you notice that the water is bubbling strangely. It's definitely not normal rainwater. As you watch, the water rises unnaturally, stopping and starting. It's as if the water level is responding to an external stimulus.

• The glass is soundproof. You can't hear what the person inside is saying, so you'll have to communicate with each other another way. Try charades, typing on your phone, or whatever you think of. Eventually, you determine that they're stuck and that you need to enter some sort of code onto a pad located—according to your trapped partner—at the back of the building.
• Around the back, shadows swallow your surroundings. The panel must be pried open, but a slippery substance makes it hard to get a good grip. Each time the substance touches you, you grow uneasy. You swear you see eyes watching you, though when you turn around, nothing's there.
• You can't seem to keep the instructions in your mind. And those symbols...they burn into your retinas. Through them, you glimpse an incomprehensibly massive figure unfurling in the darkness, pulsing as if in a deep sleep. When you snap back to reality, you realize you've injured yourself, slicing your hand on a sharp edge or a bruise you can't remember getting.
• Once you manage to release the doors, the water inside the office drains upward into the sky as though sucked out by a giant hose. The darkness spreads. Get out of there fast before the shadows drag you or your partner into the void.

Of course, you don't have to help anyone. You can leave the individual there, make a deal, or outright extort them. But remember, you're not the only person on these roads. You might want to play your cards carefully, even if altruism isn't your first instinct.

Main Navigation ::: ⇅ Top

Comments

[someonetostay]

“You’re a sentient being.” Just like deviants became back home. “It’s natural to shy away from the things that bring you pain.”

Which isn’t to say that the opposite — leaning toward pain — isn’t understandable. That was what Hank did, too. How he lived.

“If pain were necessary for your survival, then that’s logical. But for my amusement, or convenience...”

Connor’s brow furrows ever so slightly. LED spinning yellow.

“We can find other forms of light. You needn’t inflict pain on yourself for that.”

He stands: stiff but slow. Walking over to the window, its dim light seeping through.

KIMIKO... I LOVE HER SO MUCH...

[intelligent]

[ ... okaaaaaaaaaaaay. This much is clear: I don't shocking know where we are is probably what that gesture meant. Minus a "shocking" since even in this world, he's yet to hear the curse of his era uttered even once outside of his own mouth.

After a similar moment, he flings his hands up in exasperation; not at her, just at this whole... thing. ]

In the movies, the protagonist always finds a map guy right away. I can't believe I've been lied to.

[ Or, Miggy, it's because you're not the protagonist. A valid point. ]

[kingsroads]

That should be enough, [ said with a nod. Strange kneels down, a little bit slowly as he's a man in his thirties who doesn't really exercise, before, ] I am Jonathan Strange, by the way.

[ He hovers his hand over the puddle and murmurs a few words under his breath. Something in the room shifts. There's a sense of electricity, like the weather before a storm. But the puddle remains just that. A puddle.

Frowning slightly, Strange mutters something else. That feeling of electricity remains in the room, but the image shifts. In the reflection shows Alucard himself, watching Strange as he casts the magic. The scene is such that it is as if they're looking through the eyes of someone else, an invisible person in the room with them.

Strange might not have been able to find Juste. But the magic is certainly working. ]

:') cw for death and suicidal ideation?? maybe?

[carmesi]

( he says that he's died before, and wanda catches no lie in that, which surprises her, but also—that just means that there might be truth in her just jesting about him being 'special'. people here are different in their own ways, and some of them hardly normal at all, but that doesn't mean she wants to be pushed in with the lot of them — to be perceived, as different, either.

but it's his words about turning the the scars into a tool, into a weapon that trigger her pain all over again.

her expression shifts, she stands a little more defensively now, arms crossed. )

What if doing any of that doesn't feel worth it anymore? Then it's just pain and nothing else.

( since arriving here, she has been thinking — thinking about how it would be easier to just give up. and yet she's forced to continue, to find a job, to wake up in the mornings, to treat the injuries marring her wrists and neck, feeding herself... all the while being too fully aware hat living hurts. she is so often crippled by the agony of being without, crying herself to sleep, staring at the red that she can summon in her hands and wishing this power had never come to her.

her jawline tenses, feeling angry, now, this constant burst of emotions that she can't always keep in line. )

I don't need the life advice. You could never know what it's like.

( (and she'd wrong, though, to think herself alone in this type of position, in this type of pain.) )

1/2

[intelligent]

[ Once again, he did not think this through, huh. ]

[carmesi]

( the burnt marks will last on her body as long as they need to last, and wanda is not vain enough to want them gone. on the other hand, it's not about that; it's about the reminder that she was held prisoner, of how the government that promised her safety treated her, in the end; it reminds her that even though it hurts, she relishes that.

it's a way to feel, especially when she's been feeling so numb.

wanda draws her hands back after his diagnosis is done. )

What kind of ointment?

( it's clear that she's still refusing his offer to fix it quickly. )

[carmesi]

( clint offers his arm, and wanda has half a mind to ignore it, but—she feels that he might really need this, more than what he's admitting to her. not like it's difficult, anyway, because it's him; so, she grabs at his arm, hand loose against the curve of it, as they make their way to his car.

which isn't exactly anything to call home about, in her mind, once she sees the model they're walking towards. )

I have a backpack. ( re: hauling things and scavenging, which is not something that has crossed her mind at all. she scrunches her nose as he continues, though; fight club... him?

hm. ) It sure looks like it needs tinkering.

( someone else would scold him for getting into fights; it's clearly leaving him with new bruises on his body. but she won't do that, and asks, instead, )

Are you trying to say I should join a fight club, to save up?

[carmesi]

( seems like it would suck, to be unable to perceive the world without those sunglasses. not that it's her problem, but—really—before her life changed so completely because of the avengers, because of hydra, all wanda and pietro ever wanted to do was help others. the sympathy she carries, it's one that she has learned to harden, far too hurt by others with no sympathy for her.

she huffs, and that's the closest it comes to a laugh, needing to look away. )

If that's what you need to tell yourself to feel better about them.

( this is the kind of banter she'd hold with her brother, because he was a lot more vain than she ever was. wanda moves now, turning, almost like she's got half a mind to walk away, (worried that he'll take offense at her words), but stops, looking back at him, as if changing her mind. hands pressed together in front of herself, she fidgets with her fingers the same way she would if she still had her rings, until deciding to ask, )

Did you arrive here recently, too?

[carmesi]

( in closing herself off, wanda finds that she also closes off everyone else. especially now, in such a busy place, she wants nothing to do with the noise of everyone catching into her mind. so, she has no way of discerning that this man, too, is a telepath, or that his proposal holds an underlying purpose.

and perhaps wanda wants to think that a man in a wheelchair (sure, she pities him a little; whole reason she approached him the way she did in the first place) could do something awful to her. )

I'm not that hungry.

( shit, she should have said she had already eaten. maybe he just wants company?

ultimately, she is still holding the bag in her hand, and he hasn't taken it. she makes a quick choice regarding this. )

—okay. As long as you accept them.

[carmesi]

( later, she'll wonder how he got her name. later, she'll wonder about why he is here at all. right now they have a bigger problem. why are they not in the backroom of the store?

(unbeknownst to them, her dormant chaos magic and the void left quiet inside bob are not a good combination, feeding off each other.)

she finally glances around, to the old bedroom she once occupied with her brother. with some effort, she stands, moves away from bob and goes to the bedside table, picking up some toys that belonged to pietro—a toy race car, a plastic horse figurine. )

I... lived here before, after the bombings, with my brother.

( taking the toy race car into her hand, she turns back to bob; her hand curled into a fist, holding it fast against her chest, nervous and anxious. her eyes are bright, brimming with tears. her voice breaks when she speaks, so different from when they were in the store, her annoyance and steadiness clear. )

I don't — know what's... what's happening...

[valle]

It really is a testament to how conditioned to violence and chaos Laura has become, that the blackout and the potential threats aren't really weighing on her the way they're weighing on Foggy. She's a little too unconcerned about it all, because it's still less insane than the things she regularly had to deal with in the Void, and because there are very few things on nearly any world that can actually hurt her in any remarkable fashion. Very few things she can't kill — and now, because of his kindness, very few things she can't protect him from, a recent but now-existent factor.

She appreciates generous people. She appreciates good people. He seems like one, so he deserves to be protected.

It's a struggle not to look amused at the way he's thumping his head on the door, a struggle not to seem distinctly entertained by the fact that he's locked himself out.

"I can help with that," she volunteers, but with an added disclaimer of, "It might break your lock, though."

If he's got a spare key or something, that might be option one, but if he really wants to get back into his place before the front desk opens to give him another copy... she could get him inside pretty easily.

2/2

[intelligent]

[ Aaaaaaagh shock he walked right into this. Well. Quick Miggy, think of a really cool and intimidating response to your map guy that once again asserts you as the dominant force in this equation— ]

...

Unless it's to crazy, yes. I guess so.

[ He did not nail that.

Why did he have to major in biology (and later, indeed, in beating people up) and not. Chart coursing or whatever specialty it is... he sighs. ]

[mouton]

[ his head quickly turns back in her direction with that quiet protest — i'm not helpless — with a slight pang of guilt that he might have framed it as such. especially when he knows all too well the weight can be in being assumed helpless. ]

Oh, no, miss, I don't expect you are. Just wanted to give you a chance to steady yourself back on your feet, that's all.

[ to say nothing of his own fairly selfish intentions in simply wanting to be useful, in following instinct after instinct of presenting his own worth in offered service. but he doesn't say anything further about it once she moves down to join him, instead returning his own attention to what he'd offered his assistance on, until she seems to catch sight of their target. ]

Yeah, I see them now. [ he squints in the slight light, trying to map out an idea for obtaining them considering the blocked entry for trying to simply get down there himself. at the most, there's a slight gap between the metal steps, wide enough to stretch his arm between with ease, except the keys seem to be out of reach for even that.

but there's a metaphorical bulb over his head lighting up as he turns to her and gives a cheeky smile. ] I got it.

[ pushing off his knees to briefly stand, he lowers himself back down onto the step to reposition himself to instead slide his feet in between the steps, seating himself backwards on it as he lets long legs dangle in the open space. giving a slide arch of his body, he slides a leg with graceful controlled movement, the tip of his shoe carefully angled to try to dip beneath the keys and giving a gentle nudge to urge them on top of the shoe.

balancing the price on his foot, he prepares a slow studied swing, his eyes focused on the proper angle before he bends his knees and then gives it a swift stretch to kick up the keys, propelling them in a perfect flying circle that has them flying up, directly through one of the higher steps to land with a clang on the metal.

he turns to her with a proud grin. ] There you go.

[ if his smile briefly wavers, it's because as he tries to ease back to pull his legs out, he realizes the muscle of his thigh might have actually been too thick for the empty gap of the steps, and may actually be ... a little stuck now. ]

[kingsroads]

[ As the conversation continues, Strange blinks a little. Yes, there must be a market for magic. But...house calls? Like a physician or a dressmaker? That is possible, of course, and to have magic so widespread that people could make house calls is a net gain for the world...

But there's something in Strange's bearing that is a bit repulsed by the idea of house calls. He can't explain why entirely. Maybe it's because he's used to working for lords and kings. Maybe because even though he wants magic to be accessible to the masses, that by bringing magic back to England he did just that, there's a little part of his mind that believes it shouldn't be him who takes house calls. Going from someone who could reshape rivers and conjure up fantastic images to someone who does laundry or fixes roof shingles feels...demeaning.

Which it shouldn't. He did base sort of magic in the peninsula, creating roads or removing trees. But there's still something about this that sits poorly in Strange's mind.

He absolutely is not going to examine why he feels like that. Recognizing your own biases and classist tendencies are for losers!!! Instead, he gives Marc a wry smile before pointing out, ]

I would have to be very specific on what sort of house calls I take. I still have trouble with my 'cell phone', I'm certain this world has other technological marvels I don't know about that are regarded as commonplace.

[cryptsleeper]

[Strange? That is far too on the nose, and Alucard is willing to assume that the man has heard enough comments about his surname for a lifetime. He'll save that remark for an opportune moment.

Alucard stands on the opposite side of the puddle, his own curiosity focused on Mr. Strange and the work of the magic itself. The dhampir knows magic well enough, so he can tell when there's a charge in the air of raw will tranmuting into magic.

And...

...well that's quite an image.

The dhampir tilts his head to one side.]

Is this a typical null result?

[cryptsleeper]

There's no one in power. That's my point here. What's here is what happens when something blows through and there's no scaffolding to rebuild. Everyone invents temporary systems that get them to the next day.

[But. Very well, the executions. Alucard nods slowly.]

Then we remember the same thing, more or less. I had the croissant in my pocket, until it needed to be eaten or else grow moldy.

[opticular]

[ To be fair, Scott's proud of being a mutant so he doesn't really need to make himself feel better about his glasses. Sure his powers are a setback especially when they first manifested, but his mutation is a part of him, and a part he wholeheartedly embraced after struggling with it during his younger years.

So, he just chooses to answer her, even when he was almost certain there that she'd walk away. ]

I have. Been here for almost a week now.

[ Scott takes note how she mentioned earlier she had only been here a few days, too. ] You settling in okay?

[carmesi]

( she was hoping he would try to reach out with his arms, which are obviously longer than her own, but he seems to think that that wouldn't be enough. wanda watches, uncertain if she should keep the light of the cellphone on, as he maneuvers himself to reach for the keys with his legs instead.

(all this trouble—she should have just used here telekinesis.)

her head shifts up at the sound of the keys on the metal, knowing now where they are, and hurrying to get them, to let him know that they in fact are now in her possession. but as her eyes have briefly adjusted to the darkness, she can tell that he's... stuck. )

Are you stuck?

( she steps back down, careful not to slip again, holding tight to the banister. )

...I got the keys, thank you. ( uh. ) Should I pull you out?

[cryptsleeper]

[Alucard listens. He does ask questions, usually clarifications about function and the sensitivity of equipment. All baseline matters, and all demonstrating how novel this entire thing is.

He can't say the idea of trial and error in a a giant metal box is appealing though. It'd be helpful to observe instead. Have someone walk through what they're doing for two hours, but that would also be beyond exhausting.

Fuck.

He nods, accepting that help will conclude here for now.]

I'll confess, I have some concerns about errors leading to real harm.

[reorienting]

"So long as I do not remove something from my person, it is not painful to create it. I have simply created cells that emit light within the hair follicle."

Glenn doesn't follow him to the window, but he does watch him there, catching his silhouette from the faint light beyond it.

"I am merely rearranging my own cells to form something new. Albeit, even body-made artificial things still require a blood supply from me at first. I have not yet figured out another way of doing it. Feeling physical pain used to matter to me. It no longer does, in the same way it used to."

A beat, as he considers that LED, whether or not it's still yellow. Stoplight code?

"That LED of yours-- no. Would you mind telling me about your species? I would like to know, if it does not trouble you to speak of."

[carmesi]

( almost a week, which isn't a lot more in comparison to herself. she purses her lips, then twists her mouth to the side, considering—

he was somewhat vulnerable with her, just now, about his disability or ailment or whatever it is he has. it's not that she is owed that, but doing so means that he was honest with her, so wanda feels the impulse of being honest in return, at his question. )

...it's the first time I've been living on my own. ( even with all these people around, none of them are pietro. ) I think I'm doing okay.

( that sounds more like she isn't entirely too sure if she is, but she is trying. even if she is halfway through her twenties, she's still young in many ways, in many (normal) life experiences missed out on. )

[valle]

( She hasn't heard about the sentinels. Neither Logan or Charles ever made mention of them, her brief encounter with Rogue didn't involve bringing them up, and they weren't in any of her comics. It leaves her blinking, confused, thrown for a loop for a moment before she manages to recover. )

No, it was biological. There's an organization... Alkali-Transigen, they started manipulating mass-market food distribution to include a chemical that suppresses mutations. New mutants stopped being born, at least in North America. The only ones born in the last few decades were the ones they genetically engineered in a lab themselves. No machines, at least none that I know of.

( This is probably a little telling, if he connects the dots. If the only mutants born were lab-created, and she's a mutant that's barely even about to hit twenty... it's not a hard conclusion to draw. )

The X-Men have been gone for a long time. I don't know if any of them are still alive by 2030. Your stories are still alive in the comics, but how much of what's in them is true is impossible to know for sure anymore. But they made you out to be a good man.

[opticular]

[ There's undeniable sympathy in Scott's tone when he replies with, ]

Sorry to hear that. This place can be a lot if it's your first time living alone.

[ Even when she says she's doing okay, Scott can't help but worry a little for this complete stranger he just met. It's what they do, in a way. Worry for their kind. Not that he thinks she's a mutant. Scott supposes being concerned for people thrust in situations foreign to them is second nature when you're the leader of people the world has judged harshly.

For a moment, he's silent, as if considering sharing his next words or not. ]

Back home, the world isn't too kind to us, so we make sure to build community. [ Build a network. Build a school. ] I hope we can have something like that here, too, in a way. [ His smile returns as he extends a friendly hand. ] My name's Scott. What's yours?

[exarched]

[ He'll need time to fully process this later. Having a mutual threat is working in his favor as he can put his full concentration on getting out of the building entirely. The rain is almost a welcome reprieve because it at least feels right, frehs--or, well, as fresh as it can be in a city like this.

G'raha slows to catch his own breath, resting his hands on his knees as he bends over.

Nothing about what happened in that room was expected. The strange water, the backwards locking system, the fear that was all but palpable. But why? What purpose could all of that serve? And they were specifically requested to lend their assistance as well. A trap, surely. To what end? Were not they and those supplies more valuable alive?

It's Emet-Selch's voice that breaks his chain of thought and G'raha straightens, reminding himself how an already confusing situation was made infinitely worse by this man's mere presence.

And yet, now, G'raha Tia owes him his life.

Ugh.

G'raha's brows pull together, the rain plastering his hair to his face. His ears instinctively stay down close to the top of his head. Were this anyone else, G'raha would readily offer his assistance with any injury, either it being simple first aid or what magics he has at is disposal...

Surely Emet-Selch is more than capable of healing himself. ]

...

[ Gods, he owes this man. Would dying have been preferable?

G'raha looks away, back to the building they narrowly escaped. ]

What purpose this all has served is beyond me.

[valle]

( He does talk a lot — but that isn't a bad thing. Communicating verbally has always been something of a struggle for her. Worse when she was a child, and conjuring up words for strangers sometimes seemed like an insurmountable task. Even when she did finally let herself speak, she'd often do it in Spanish because she knew she wouldn't really be understood — another barrier, another protective layer between her and the vulnerable, exposed feeling that comes with sharing her inner thoughts out loud.

It's not as bad these days, but she still tends to only speak when she really has something to say. At first, at least. It takes a while to get her to open up, to relax, but once she does, she gets a little chattier. In the meantime, it's good that at least one of the two of them can fill the silence.

Fuck, she'd love a double cheeseburger though. She hasn't had fast food in over five years. She'd slam a Big Mac right now.

Noodles sound pretty good too, though her nose wrinkles a little at that last bit, and she can't keep the skepticism out of her voice. )

Peanut butter in noodles?

( She didn't get a lot of time to experience a diverse range of food in between escaping the facility and being yeeted into the Void. The combination sounds bizarre at first blush. Not that she wouldn't eat it, she'd be willing to try just about anything right now. )